Waking up the following morning after participating in Glendale’s 1st Annual Top Competitor Tournament and Camp, I thought, “what a great camp that was!” As I sprang out of bed, I had to grab my behind as I realized for some reason my gluts hurt.
What an extraordinary experience it was to train with Sensei Dorfman. He not only taught how to develop and increase the dynamics of oi-zuki, but how much we should appreciate the art of Shotokan karate. He started the seminar by asking us to free spar with a partner as he skillfully observed. Calling, “yame”, Sensei Dorfman asked how many of us used an oi-zuki and if we did, was it powerful enough to stop your opponent? Pure silence.
He tantalized us with his demonstration of how to perform oi-zuki with a meaningful “killing blow”. Breaking the technique into three parts, Sensei Dorfman explained that one of the most important parts of your body is one that we rarely use. Your feet! They must always be pointed toward the direction of your technique. “Step 1!” Step 2!!” Step 3!!!” Now, to include using everything else that we are not used to using; to create explosiveness! Point feet toward the target, tighten your gluts, keep knees bent and toward the direction of the target, push off of your heel, back muscles tight, keep the back straight, hikete!
Then using all that we have just been taught, he asked to do Heian Shodan like a black belt performing with black belt skilled techniques, not as a black belt using beginner’s techniques.” EXHAUSTING! Never knew Heian Shodan could be so hard to do.
Sensei Dorfman showed a little favoritism toward the women as he had us demonstrate our revised oi-zuki and mae-geri techniques using a male counterpart to see if we could force them back. Great fun.
Competition began promptly after a short break, when we were able to observe the South African team perform a skillful Gojushiho-Sho. Congratulations to Pilar Ramos for winning 1st place in both kata and kumite and to Simeon Ekrissen for Sensei Dorfman recognizing him as the best male competitor for his phenomenal spirit and his competitive tenacity.
We ended a great day of training and competition, dining with Sensei Dorfman, Sensei’s Hyder and Coburn and all of the ENTIRE camp participants at the Cherry Blossom restaurant. Mr. Dorfman explained to us how important it was to continue to support and train with each other to keep the spirit of Shotokan Karate alive.
We look forward to another time to meet up with Sensei Dorfman again and thank him for his valued instruction. Congratulations to Sensei Hyder for the opportunity to train with Sensei Dorfman and providing a “Class A” tournament and seminar.
The memories are almost enough to make me forget how bad my gluts and my “21 square inches“ of feet hurt!
OSS! – Cheryl Coburn
